A WEBGIS FOR THE KNOWLEDGE AND CONSERVATION OF THE HISTORICAL BUILDINGS IN SARDINIA ITALY
G. Vacca
a
, D. R. Fiorino
a
, D. Pili
a a
DICAAR, Dep. of Civil and Environmental Engineering and Architecture University of Cagliari, P.zza DArmi 09123 Cagliari Italy - vaccagunica.it
Commission IV, WG IV4 KEY WORDS: GIS, WEBGIS, conservation, historical buildings, cultural heritage
ABSTRACT:
The presented work is part of the research project, titled Tecniche murarie tradizionali: conoscenza per la conservazione ed il miglioramento prestazionale Traditional building techniques: from knowledge to conservation and performance improvement.
This research project has the purpose of studying the building techniques of the 13
th
- 18
th
centuries in the Sardinia Region Italy for their knowledge, conservation, and promotion. The end purpose of the entire study is to improve the performance of the examined
structures. In particular, the task of the authors within the research project was to build a WebGIS to manage the data collected during the examination and study phases. This infrastructure was entirely built using Open Source software.
The work consisted of designing a database built in PostgreSQL and its spatial extension PostGIS, which allows storing and managing feature geometries and spatial data. The data input is performed via a form built in HTML and PHP. The HTML part is
based on Bootstrap, an open tools library for websites and web applications. The implementation of this template used both PHP and Javascript code. The PHP code manages the reading and writing of data to the database, using embedded SQL queries. The database
is published on the Internet as a WebGIS built using the Leaflet Javascript open libraries, which allows creating map sites with background maps and navigation, input and query tools. This too uses an interaction of HTML, Javascript, PHP and SQL code. The
Database can be accessed in QGIS via a PostgreSQL connection. As of today, we surveyed and archived more than 300 buildings, belonging to three main macro categories: fortification
architectures, religious architectures, residential architectures.
1. INTRODUCTION
In the recent years, the archiving and diffusion of data about Historical-Architectural Heritage, through the new digital
information technologies, has represented a very important moment for a new and better management of this heritage.
DUrso, 2017 This is due, in particular, to the fact that, at present, the amount
of data affecting buildings and structures of cultural heritage has increased massively. This is thanks to the new
multidisciplinary approach to the study of the architectural heritage aimed not only on its knowledge but above all on its
restoration and conservation. Architects, restorers, structural engineers, energy engineers and geomatics experts are
involved, each by their specificities, to contribute to the historical, metrical-dimensional, structural, material and energy
performance knowledge of the buildings. Conservation of the architectural heritage is held as a
fundamental issue in the life of modern societies. In addition to their historical interest, cultural heritage buildings are valuable
because they contribute appreciably to the economy by providing key attractions in a context where tourism and free
time are major industries in the 3rd millennium. The study of historical buildings must use an approach based on modern
digital technologies. The final goal must be to choose and satisfactorily manage the possible technical means needed to
obtain the required understanding of the morphology and the structural behaviour of the construction and to characterize the
needs of repair. In this context of study, the geomatic can offer an important
contribution both from the point of view of the survey and for the management and storage of the data, as well as their sharing
on the Internet for greater diffusion among the users involved. During these last years, indeed, new survey technologies
became influential, allowing an accurate and a detailed knowledge of historical buildings. UAVdrones or Terrestrial
Laser Scanner technologies allow us to get exhaustive point clouds that restitution a high-resolution 3D model of the
building. Scianna, 2017. These instruments are characterized by being compact, fast in acquisition and, at the same time,
producing high accuracy data of buildings in shorter working time, also for more complex buildings. Fabbri, 2016.
Besides, the implementation of Geographical Information System GIS technologies applied to historical-archeological
heritage has reached a fundamental importance for the valorization of these buildings and it could be an important step
for planning their restoration Pelcer-Vujacic and Kovacevic, 2016. Indeed, the Geographic Information Systems have been
developed to create relationships between data, to analyze spatial information recorded in a database and for the heritage
management. Many types of data can be managed in a GIS, not only geographical or geolocalized data, but also historical,
architectural, material and other data Meyer, 2007 and it is very important to share this data on the Web.
The relatively recent emergence of WebGIS functionality has modified the traditional way of using GIS as a database-
mapping and spatial analytical tool Huang, 2009; Pessina and Meroni, 2009. WebGIS provides an efficient and powerful way
This contribution has been peer-reviewed. https:doi.org10.5194isprs-archives-XLII-4-W2-171-2017 | © Authors 2017. CC BY 4.0 License.
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for delivering, managing and analyzing multi-source data on the Internet.
In this paper, we present a WebGIS infrastructure for the management and storage of a large amount of data concerning
to the structural, morphological, material, dimensional and energy characteristics of the historical buildings present in
Sardinia and built between the 13th and the 18th century. The presented work is part of the L.R. n. 72007 Promozione
della ricerca Scientifica e dellinnovazione tecnologica in Sardegna Regional Law 72007 – Promotion of scientific
research and technological innovation in Sardinia research project, titled Tecniche murarie tradizionali: conoscenza per la
conservazione ed il miglioramento prestazionale Traditional building techniques: from knowledge to conservation and
performance improvement, with the purpose of studying the building techniques of the 13
th
- 18
th
centuries for their knowledge, conservation, and promotion. The end purpose of
the entire research project is to improve the performance of the examined structures on both the structural and the energetic use
sides. The study, indeed, is founded on a multi-disciplinary approach involving several specialists integrating their expertise
and providing their input to the knowledge of the dimensional, technical-constructive,
mensio-chronological, material,
physical-mechanical and energy-performance features in order to define the peculiarities and behavior of the examined
structures, their performance levels, and then direct the interventions toward innovative, mindful and ethically correct
solutions. All data acquired in the distinct steps of the research have been organized in a GeoDatabase and a WebGIS, built
according to the standards and specifications of the Regione Sardegna local autonomous government of Sardinia and
CISIS Italian inter-regional center for GIS and statistical services which in turn are based in the INSPIRE directive
specifications. The geodatabase can be integrated in the SITR Regional Geographic Information System and in the Regione
Sardegna Web geo-portal. This infrastructure was entirely built using Open Source software.
The work consisted of designing a database built in PostgreSQL and its spatial extension PostGIS, which allows storing and
managing of feature geometries and spatial data. The data input is performed via a form built in HTML and PHP. The HTML
part is based on Bootstrap, an open tools library for websites and web applications. The implementation of this template used
both PHP and Javascript code. The PHP code manages the reading and writing of data to the database, using embedded
SQL queries. The database is designed to store and manage data building in
order to turn them into comparable information and to make them available in single or aggregate form. The database
structure is based on two levels of detail: the first one consists in a territorial census of buidings to the architectural scale; the
second one, however, is oriented to investigate technological specificity relative to the structural elements, with indications
on the energy performance related thereto, to masonry construction techniques and to the window fixtures. The
structure of the DB is organized in schemes. Each scheme represents a specific architectural typology of the building and
contains several tables pertain to the different input categories for each data type. Until now, we surveyed and archived more
than 300 buildings, belonging to three main macro categories: fortification architectures, religious architectures, residential
architectures. The masonry samples investigated in relation to the construction techniques are more than 150.
The Database is accessed in QGIS via a PostgreSQL connection, with the ability to import, export and modify the
DB tables. A number of queries for interrogating the DB have also been built in QGIS.
The database is published on the Internet as a WebGIS built using the Leaflet Javascript open libraries, which allows to
create map sites with background maps and navigation, input and query tools. This too uses an interaction of HTML,
Javascript, PHP and SQL code. Figure 1 shows the architecture of the WebGIS infrastructure as implemented.
The GIS files were predisposed for their eventual publishing on the official GIS of the Autonomous Region of Sardinia SITR.
Figure 1: WebGIS Infrastructure
2. DATABASE STRUCTURE AND DATA TYPES
